NY Jets' Dwight Jones returns to football after suffering through young son's tragic death

New York Daily News | Dec 19

The Jets signed Dwight Jones to their practice squad Wednesday, a wide receiver who is returning to football after a family tragedy. Jones went undrafted in 2012 after coming out of North Carolina and signed with the Houston Texans.

But Jones didn’t report to training camp that season, telling the Texans he wasn’t sure if we wanted to play football again and was placed on the reserve/did not report list.

“The reason why I left Houston (was) because my son (Deizean) was sick, and he passed away. A lot of people don’t know the situation with my son and things like that. He was born real sick, a lot of medical conditions,” Jones said. “I tried to play football, but it just didn’t feel right. It was the worst feeling of my life. The feeling was God was just wanting me to spend the last moments with my son.”

His son, at just 22 months old, died July 6.

Jones who had 85 catches for 1,196 yards and 12 TDs during his senior season in 2011 — waffled back and forth about whether he should return to football.

“I was thinking about it,” he said. “I really wasn’t quite sure. I was always second-guessing.”

The Texans officially waived Jones in June of this year. He got looks from other teams, he said, but finally landed with the Jets after an impressive workout.